#Dasukigate: How Shekarau shared N950m, shortchanged PDP candidates

Details of how ex-Minister of Education, Ibrahim Shekarau, shared N950million campaign funds to candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have emerged after Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) began investigation into the matter.

Security and party sources have revealed how the former minister appropriated and shared campaign funds in his residence on the eve of the election. Mr. Shekarau, who is currently in EFCC custody, had earlier denied knowledge of how the money was shared, admitting that the funds were only shared in his house. It was reliably gathered that when a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aminu Wali, collected the money from Fidelity Bank, located on Murtala Mohammed Way, Kano, he raised concerns about the safety of the funds in his custody to party leaders. At that point, sources said, Mr. Shekarau volunteered to take the money to his house, saying he had enough safes to contain the money.

Mr. Wali and other party leaders allegedly obliged the request. “Ambassador Wali never even accompanied the money to Shekarau’s Mundubawa Avenue residence and he never participated in sharing the money,” said a source who is a member of the campaign committee.

“Shekarau single-handedly shared all the money to all the beneficiaries. He gave State Assembly, House of Representatives and Senatorial candidates their shares.

“Let me even tell you this fact. Shekarau didn’t give some of the candidates their complete money based on the sharing template sent by the national headquarters of our party,” he said. Asked by our reporter to specifically identify the candidates short-changed by Mr. Shekarau, the party stalwart cited Senator Bashir Lado as example. “Shekarau did not give Senator Lado his full allowance. He gave him only N17million instead of 30million.”

Security sources said upon investigation, EFCC discovered that Shekarau was in charge of the sharing of the money and got “substantial amount” from it.